This column is the second of three, describing some of the highlights of the Audubon Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs).\u00a0 Over 30 Counts are conducted in Maine so I can\u2019t cover all of them but we can detect general patterns of bird abundance from a sampling of the Maine CBCs. \u00a0In this column, we will look at five coastal counts.<\/p>\n
I will discuss the Bath-Phippsburg in some detail because of the intriguing mix of lingering species, winter visitors from the north and a genuine rarity.\u00a0 Altogether the participants found 79 birds on the December 14 count.<\/p>\n
The rarity was a Pink-footed Goose, a European species whose closest breeding population to North America is found in Greenland.\u00a0 What a find!<\/p>\n
Other northern visitors included two Rough-legged Hawks, 15 Dunlin, a Snowy Owl (not surprising in this invasion year), a Northern Shrike, 15 Pine Siskins and a Savannah Sparrow of the Ipswich race.\u00a0 The Ipswich Savannah Sparrows breed only on Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n
Late December in Maine is still in a transition bird-wise between summer and winter.\u00a0 Despite all the northern visitors, take a look at all these summer birds that were found on the Bath CBC: three Belted Kingfishers, two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, a Northern Flicker, eight Eastern Bluebirds, three Hermit Thrushes, 11 Yellow-rumped Warblers (regular wintering birds in this area), a Common Yellowthroat, two Red-winged Blackbirds and a Brown-headed Cowbird.<\/p>\n
Throw in a nice count of Red-throated Loons, Common Loons, Horned Grebes, Red-necked Grebes and four Northern Gannets to ice the cake.<\/p>\n
Not far away, the Brunswick-Freeport CBC produced 80 species on December 29.\u00a0 Two Snowy Owls put in an appearance.\u00a0 The nine Ruddy Turnstones and 33 Dunlins were nice totals.<\/p>\n
Lingering birds included a Northern Pintail, a Northern Flicker nine Carolina Wrens, 46 Eastern Bluebirds, seven Hermit Thrushes and a Common Grackle.<\/p>\n
Three northern finches were found: a singleton Common Redpoll and two Pine Siskins.\u00a0 The sharp-eyed observers found one Bohemian Waxwing among 126 Cedar Waxwings.<\/p>\n
Heading north, the North Penobscot Bay CBC on December 28 yielded 55 species.\u00a0 The Stockton Springs are is perhaps the most reliable place in the state to find Ruddy Ducks; 59 were found on the count.<\/p>\n
Grebe abundance was low with only seven Horned Grebes and no Red-necked Grebes.\u00a0 A single Red-throated Loon was found along with 25 Common Loons.<\/p>\n
This count had very few lingering birds.\u00a0 No doubt the bitter cold around Christmas Day had something to do with the decision of those half-hardy birds to seek warmer climes.<\/p>\n
More northerly birds included a Peregrine Falcon, a Fox Sparrow and a dozen Purple Finches.<\/p>\n
The Schoodic Count, held on January 1, yield a count of 52 species.\u00a0 Like the North Penobscot Bay CBC, few lingering birds from the fall were found. A Northern Harrier and six Yellow-rumped Warblers were about it for lingering birds.<\/p>\n
Highlights included a Merlin and three Northern Shrikes.<\/p>\n
The York County CBC on December 16 produced a tally of 86 species.\u00a0 Sixteen species of waterfowl were counted.\u00a0 The 68 Harlequin Ducks must have been a treat to see.<\/p>\n
Shorebird diversity was impressive: 115 Purple Sandpipers, a Ruddy Turnstone, 189 Sanderlings, and a dozen Dunlin.<\/p>\n
Only two species of alcids were found with Razorbills outnumbering the normally more common Black Guillemots, 18 to 1.<\/p>\n
Three Snowy Owls were found.\u00a0 A single Purple Finch was the only irruptive finch found on the count.\u00a0 It\u2019s a poor winter for the northern finches in Maine.<\/p>\n
Three American Pipits were nice finds.\u00a0 A Clay-colored Sparrow and three Fox Sparrows were also notable.<\/p>\n
We expect more lingering summer birds in this most moderate of Maine counts and the birds did not disappoint on this count.\u00a0 Highlights were three Great Blue Herons, 113(!) Eastern Bluebirds, a couple of Hermit Thrushes, a Baltimore Oriole and 16 Brown-headed Cowbirds.<\/p>\n\n
This column is the second of three, describing some of the highlights of the Audubon Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs).\u00a0 Over 30 Counts are conducted in Maine so I can\u2019t cover all of them but we can detect general patterns of bird abundance from a sampling of the Maine CBCs. \u00a0In this column, we will look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643\/revisions\/645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/mainebirds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}